THE Morbi pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River collapsed on October 30, leading to the confirmed death of 141 persons and injuries to more than 100. In this column, I will not repeat what is widely known regarding one of the worst bridge disasters in India. The question that needs to be raised is whose responsibility is such a bridge in India and whether the authorities carried out their responsibilities. This is more than simply filing police cases against lower-level staff in the company, Oreva, a manufacturer of electronic clocks, CFL bulbs and e-bikes.

THE most intriguing question with regard to Liz Truss’ resignation as the prime minister of Britain after a mere 44 days in office is this: what is it about her economic programme that the “market” (read “finance capital”) found unpalatable? At its core after all was tax-cuts for the rich, which the “market” should have lapped up.

BARELY three months before the Tripura general elections scheduled for February 2023, the state government here is busy promoting the idea of sushashan (good governance) to every doorstep. The streets of Tripura are covered with lakhs of banners, hoardings and cut-outs with images of the chief minister and cabinet ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.This hyped publicity bombarding the public with the images of the ministers and costing the government exchequer crores of rupees is only an attempt to hide the government’s utter failure in all sectors. The ‘sushashan’

THE 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that was held from October 16-22, concluded successfully on October 22. Given the important position of China in the world economy, the Congress was eagerly watched. In 2021, China's gross domestic product reached 17.7 trillion US dollars, accounting for 18.5 per cent of the world's total. From 2013 to 2021, it grew at an average annual rate of 6.6 per cent, beating the global average of 2.6 per cent.

THE CPI(M) captured 93 posts of the sarpanch (gram panchayat president) by direct election in the recently concluded round of gram panchayat (village panchayat) elections in the state. The Party has done quite well, especially in its traditional adivasi strongholds of Nashik and Thane-Palghar districts. This round of gram panchayat elections was not state wide, since only 1,165 gram panchayats in the state went to the polls.